Unit-911

I don’t think there is one gay man that has not had a fantasy about being pulled over or arrested by a sexy cop and… (ok, fill in the blank). Although Alph and CJ are not real cops they dress as them when they perform as the singing group UNIT-911.

Head: Unit 911

Sub: Alph Santillana and CJ Machado Want to Put You Under Arrest

I don’t think there is one gay man that has not had a fantasy about being pulled over or arrested by a sexy cop and…(ok, fill in the blank). Although Alph and CJ are not real cops they dress as them when they perform as the singing group UNIT-911. If I didn’t know better, I would think they are real cops as they are both extremely masculine, burly and exude sexiness. It was a pleasure to sit down with both of them to find out their history, how they became a couple, and what the future holds for UNIT-911.

Alph Santillana was living in his native Spain when he had the original idea for UNIT-911 in 1987. He would sing in cop’s uniform with a puppet and gear his show towards the gay market. The producer at that time, Julian Ruiz, was behind him 100%, but RCA thought it was way out there. This was also the time when the AIDS epidemic became well known and companies were afraid to stand behind anything gay. At that time, Alph let the idea go dormant and he concentrated his efforts on his full time job; He was the creative director of a children’s TV show called Los Electroduendes, until 1991. At that time, the economic condition in Spain was horrible and Alph decided to move to the U.S.A. In the US he worked in many places including: an advertising agency in San Francisco where he was the Creative Director, an AIDs Foundation supporting the creation of the very first Spanish hotline at Sony Pictures /Amblin/Entertainment, at Universal for the world tour of the Feature film Titanic, and he also freelanced for Martha Stewart and Lexus.

CJ Machado was born in New York and started his career in the Electronics market as a Buyer/Trader and worked in that industry for over 20 years. After 9/11, his industry was mostly wiped out. At that point he decided to take up his childhood dream of becoming an Actor. The first commercial he did was playing a Trader on Wall Street for Dr. Scholl’s. He worked his way up in a very short time, becoming a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild and was soon working on major television shows including several seasons on all the Law and Order brand of shows as well as The Sopranos. All totaled, he has had parts in 25 feature movies , 10 commercials, and over 100 episodes of Television. In 2007 he moved to Florida, tired of the harsh New York winters.

In 2007 Alph brought back his dream of resurrecting UNIT-911 with a song entitled Woof! (Give It To Me) producing the song and video. He put it on Youtube where a record company saw it and offered to make remixes. Alph enlisted the help of his long time friend, Producer Richard Ryan. Things took off very fast for Alph. As a matter of fact it was even more popular in the straight market. Unfortunately, Alph had a very serious car accident and needed some major surgery which took him away from performing for quite some time. Alph moved to Florida in 2010.

Alph and CJ noticed each other over the years in different cities and there was a connection but Alph was in a relationship. About 2 years ago they ran across each other at the Ramrod, they were both single and it clicked. They have been together ever since. According to CJ “every day and mostly every moment of every day we have been together. We are kind of the Yin and the Yang for each other.” Alph says “this is the first partner I’ve had that everything is there. I don’t have to be forced to be another person to be with CJ. He lets me be myself. It’s the first time I feel it’s natural.”

When they got together, they discussed the idea of once again reviving UNIT-911, which had always been a dream of Alph’s. Due to Alph’s connection in the TV industry he was able to secure an interview with Teresa, the jewel of Mega TV, and Carlos Valdez. This was Teresa’s highest rated show and they even brought Alph back. This really gave Alph the drive to push forward with UNIT-911. It was at that time that Alph decided UNIT-911 should be a duo, and since CJ and he would sing together all the time in their home, it was a natural progression.

Whereas Woof was very sexually charged, and basically geared to the gay community, their new song is more main stream. The song is a remake of the old Boney M song called “Daddy Cool.” Their new focus is too move away from the sex angle and be seen as more of a positive focus for people. According to CJ “we want to help the world recognize that the gay community is not just the 2% everyone sees in the media. We want to show a positive masculine gay culture.”

Daddy Cool has been released in Europe but will hit the streets here in the US mid February. To find out more information about UNIT-911 or to book UNIT-911 for your party or event, e-mail them at UNIT911Music@gmail.com find them on Facebook at Facebook.com/pages/UNIT-911.